There’s a reason so many service-based businesses try marketing, experience little to no success, and claim marketing “doesn’t work.” What they fail to understand is that it’s not their efforts that are at fault. It’s that they’ve skipped over something else—something so critical, all else relies upon it.

Branding.

As someone who builds brands for others, (and invests heavily in my own brand and marketing), I’ve experienced first-hand the cause and effect of branding in marketing efforts. And I know how frustrating and ineffective marketing can be…without branding.

When businesses focus on marketing before really figuring out what they are marketing and why anyone should care, they struggle to find new clients. On the surface, marketing early makes sense. I need business. Therefore, I need to do things that will get me in front of more potential clients. But, without a clear brand to drive that message, marketing is like yelling in the middle of a forest and wondering why nobody hears you.

Now, it's not that skipping the branding piece never works. In fact, there are plenty of people on Facebook saying you can get clients and build a high-profit business without branding or content. It’s quite an attractive idea. Curious myself, I’ve spent the time and money learning those strategies as well. You know how they do that?

They are salespeople.

Not the sleazy, conman “Always-Be-Closing” kind, but the impressive, “take someone from cold prospect to close in one phone call” kind. If you can take someone from lead to close in one or two conversations with no branding or marketing, I’ll give credit where credit is due. But, the vast majority of us aren’t like that. Or, don’t want to be. I know I don’t.

Great salespeople are incredibly skilled, thick-skinned and tenacious. It is not for everyone. For the rest of us, branding is the key to closing clients without all that slick talk.

Branding As Dating

If you want a brand that helps your business grow, you can start by thinking about who you want to attract...like dating!

If you’re going out to meet that special someone, you want someone who likes the you that you like best.

To do that, you have to communicate your personality in some subtle and not-so-subtle ways. Maybe you wear something that makes you feel great. Maybe you go to specific types of places. Maybe you engage in certain kinds of conversations. These are all cues that tell the other person who you are and what you’re all about.

If deep down, you hate what you’re wearing (OR don't believe in what you are saying, OR don't like the work you're selling), you’re going to attract people who literally like someone you’re not. They only like the false you you’re projecting. This is how service providers who don’t put enough thought into their branding get themselves into trouble with “bad clients.”

This is powerful stuff.

If you hang out at a museum to meet someone “nice”—even though you hate museums—you're going to attract somebody who appreciates the arts. Or worse, no one at all. It’s not authentically you. You’ll end up saying things like, “there are no good men/women out there anymore.” You’ll get frustrated and give up.

Too many of you are doing the equivalent of this in your business, projecting what you think your ideal clients want instead of who you truly are and what you really have to offer. And it’s not working well for anyone.

When you take the time to figure out who you are—and present yourself that way—you attract more of the “right” clients, the ones who are looking for someone exactly like you. These are the people who value what you do for them and pay handsomely for your specific expert service. But you can’t buy the right clothes (i.e., marketing) until you understand that. This is how you define your brand, but you can’t do that confidently until you fully grasp what the entire package looks like.

Consistent Touchpoints Build Trust

Your brand is the basis for consistency. When a potential client follows the breadcrumbs— all the tweets, Facebook posts, website copy, and other published content—back to you and has a consistent experience across all touchpoints, you build trust.

They’re seeing the same images, same design, same messaging, and getting the same feeling, no matter what they’re looking at. That trust is the key to getting them to buy your services. All of this comes from your branding, not your marketing!

“But Pia,” I hear you shouting right now. “What about design, and logos, and photography?”

To which I say, these things are important, but they’re your visual brand, just a small piece of your holistic brand. Starting with these things means you’re building a visual brand before you’ve made decisions about the personality of your company. A logo can feel like low-hanging fruit, but it’s the least of your worries.

First, answer, Who are you for? What are you offering? Why are you special? How are you different?

Your design and logo are a visual representation of those core answers.

Say Something Meaningful Or Stay Home

Get the brand right, and it will give your marketing efforts power.

Take networking as an example. Too many people treat networking as its own thing, but it’s not. Networking is marketing. And because they think of it as some separate entity, they never stop wasting time at networking events.

You should never go to networking events if you don't have a brand first. If you meet twenty people and don’t know what you’re about, you’ll be forgettable. Don't waste your time.

I’m not saying networking doesn’t work at all. It does. For people who have their branding dialed in. Networking can be a great way to get the word out quickly and start closing clients. But it's also the most labor intensive, lowest ROI thing you can do for your business in the long term.

This is why so many people get stuck in the networking world for years; when you don’t have a brand or haven’t built one online, you have to network all the time to keep potential clients coming in the door.

Evolve Your Sales Process

To make a sale, potential clients have to know you exist. Then, they have to build a relationship with you—learn to like and trust you. After that, they have to know you can solve a problem or challenge they have. Lastly, they need to be able to buy it.

This process can happen over the course of one conversation, or over the course of years. But, one way or another, all these steps will happen. Lacking a clear brand means you’ll spend time to experience all these steps every single time.

I am a partner and brand strategist at Worstofall Design where we build brands that turn expertise into profit. Unlike most branding firms, we build entire brands in days instead of months, and only work for 1-3 person service businesses. Our unique process and niche positio...